Thorns for the Roses Volume 2
by SirStonewall
Summary: Following 19 years after the events of Volume 1, our daring pilots have made themselves quite the business, but difficult times lay on the horizon, and it's going to take all they have to get through it. Rated M for violence, and minor suggestive adult themes.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Finally! I'd been meaning to get around to this, but things got really hectic in my life, so I couldn't. I hope you enjoy the first chapter for volume 2, and PLEASE leave a review letting me know how I'm doing.**

 **Having said that, enjoy!**

* * *

 **19 years after Vol 1.  
Patch,  
1600 hours.  
**  
Amelia walks through the snowy forest, a sword on her back, and her gray cloak flowing out behind her in the strong breeze. She keeps her hood pulled up, and inside her cloak she holds a single white rose.  
The view atop the cliff is breathtaking on its own, the snow-covered pines stretching out for miles before they reach the ocean, but Amelia isn't here for the view, instead she keeps her eyes on a small stone grave marker, repeatedly reading the text inscribed below an inscribed rose.

 _'Summer rose.'  
'And thus I kindly scatter.'  
_  
She kneels down, pulling her cloak aside before pulling out an engraved 30mm shell casing and inserting the stem of the rose into it, preventing the light flower from flying off in the strong breeze.

 _"Hello old friend, I was in the neighborhood, so I figured I'd stop by and say hello. I've stayed true to my word, nobody will ever harm her. I've been watching from afar, keeping track on her progress, and I will say that she's doing very well. Also true to my word I've stayed out of sight, she doesn't know who I am, and I doubt she's ever seen me. Yang obviously knows, and we've been keeping in touch."_

Her voice projects through the air without her lips moving, seeming to reverberate slightly, as if her voice were from an angel. She kneels at the plaque in silence for several minutes before a single solitary tear runs down her face, dripping onto the frosty stone.

 _"I miss you. I'm sorry that I was too late. I wish I could have taken your place. I've said it a million times before, but you were the best friend I ever had."_

Tears stream down her face, and she starts to sob, but her phone buzzes in her pocket.

 _"Sorry to cut this short, Yang texted me, Ruby is coming. Farewell, until next time."_

She stands up and whirls around before jogging into the forest, taking cover behind a tree as a girl in a red cloak walks along the main path to the cliff.

She walks within yards of Amelia, her hood obstructing her peripheral vision, and stops at the grave, pulling a red rose out of her cloak and placing it in the 30mm casing holding the white rose.

The girl stands there for several minutes, and Amelia uses the time to leave, her gray cloak blending in with the snow and rocks around her.  
She walks for a half hour before reaching a small cabin, gray smoke coming out of the smokestack and mingling with the gray clouds, and Amelia enters, welcoming the warmth of the fire crackling in the fireplace as she pulls her hood back

The small parcel of land had been given to her by Taiyang after Summer's death, and it resides in the forest behind his house. Ruby and Yang had found it plenty of times before, but Amelia had always heard them coming, and hid.  
She only used the cabin a few times out of the year, a couple weeks during winter being one of them. Her house in Vale was much larger, but lacked the peace due to two rambunctious kids, belonging to her and Jackson.

The memories made in this cabin were a mix of emotions, but she doesn't dwell on that. She grabs her bag, rifle, and quickly puts the fire out before looking around the cabin one last time, making sure she hasn't forgotten anything.  
Satisfied she pulls her hood up and shoulders the bag, clipping the rifle onto its single point sling before stepping out into the cold once again. The wind gives a strong gust, which forces Amelia to pull her scarf up to cover the lower half of her face as she trudges through the knee-deep snow.  
She takes an alternate path, one that leads past Tai's house, expecting Ruby to take the main path back.

Instead she comes face-to-face with the one person who was not supposed to see her.

Ruby Rose, Summer's daughter.

Ruby stands mere yards away, her silver eyes wide as she stares at Amelia in a mixture of shock and confusion. Amelia stares at her in return, after sixteen years was all her effort in staying out of sight really going to be wasted?  
Apparently so.

Ruby's eyes flicker to the sword on Amelia's back, then to her eyes, and the bangs hanging down below the hood. Finally after a solid thirty seconds she opens her mouth.  
"M-Mom?"  
Amelia sighs through her nose, softening her expression to one of sympathy.  
 _"No child, I am not Summer Rose."  
_ Ruby looks devastated, and she steps back, but Amelia pulls back her hood and pulls down her scarf.  
 _"However, when you were little, she asked me to watch over and protect you. Your family knows me as Angel."  
_ Before she can say anything else Ruby disappears in a puff of rose petals, the trail leading towards Taiyang's residence.  
Amelia sighs and walks through the forest, following the trail of petals on the snow straight to the large house. She walks up onto the porch and knocks four times.

A minute later the door opens, revealing Tai, dressed in a pair of jeans and a long sleeve shirt, his face turns from one of happiness to dread.  
"I take it the gig is up?"

Amelia nods slowly, and he opens the door more, inviting her in, she enters and dries her boots at the fireplace before sitting down.  
 _"We blundered straight into each other, she asked then ran, and now I'm here."_

She runs her fingers through her long red and black hair while she talks, and Yang comes down the stairs.  
"Oh, hey Angel! Long time no see!"

Amelia smiles at her and stands up, giving her a hug before slipping her backpack off.  
 _"Indeed, it's been at least a year. I see you're still growing like a weed, keep it up and you might just catch up to me."_

Yang pokes her in the ribs and flops down on the couch, kicking her feet up on the coffee table. "Right, I'm doubtful. I'm going to guess judging how Ruby locked herself in her room that you two met?"

Amelia nods. _"Met? More like we blundered into each other."_

Tai sighs and stands up before walking up the stairs and pounding on Ruby's door. "Ruby? Come out, we've got some stuff to talk about!"  
Amelia can hear Ruby yell for him to go away, and he stalks back down the stairs. "She's not going to come out, that was too much of a shock for her."

Amelia snorts and crosses her arms, raising an eyebrow at Tai.  
 _"And that's ever stopped me in the past?"_

Tai shrugs and sits down in a recliner, crossing his arms across his chest. "And what do you suppose we do to get her out so we can talk to her?"  
Amelia grins and pulls out her wallet, rooting around in it before pulling out a piece of folded paper.  
 _"Well, I've got Summer's cookie recipe. Bait for the trap. Then I restrain her and we have a nice long chat."_

Tai stares at her in surprise for a moment before shrugging. "It could work I guess, but what if it doesn't?"  
Amelia thinks for several minutes before answering, only the crackle of the fire keeps the silence at bay.  
 _"Psychological warfare? I can change how I sound, and if she wants to believe I'm her mom, then I can be her mom."_

Yang stares at her, her mouth slightly agape as she tries to find the words to say. "That...that's evil...but at the same time that is really nice."

Amelia nods and smiles, putting her wallet in her pocket before unfolding the paper.

Tai stares at the fire for a minute before speaking. "If you want to do that, I'd say go for it. Option two has the least chance of initial failure."

Amelia unslings her rifle and puts it with her pack, also pulling her scarf off and wrapping it around the foregrip of the rifle before walking up the stairs to Ruby's door.

She recalls what Summer's voice used to sound like, and changes her projections to match, while taking out the ethereal reverberation.  
 _"Ruby? Please...open the door, it's important we have a talk."_

She hears slight stirring behind the door, but it stops as quickly as it started.  
 _"Ruby please don't make me beg...open the door, we'll have a talk and if you want I'll make you a batch of cookies, just the way you like them."_

The trick works, and Amelia hears padded footsteps before the door is unlocked and thrown open. Ruby realizes her mistake, and tries to shut the door, but Amelia gets her foot in and forces her way in.  
Ruby runs to her bed and puts her head under the pillow, refusing to even speak with Amelia.

Having finally gotten in Amelia changes her projection back to normal, including the reverberation.  
 _"Listen Ruby, I know I'm not who you want, you want Summer, and so do I, but as much as we both want it, it's not going to happen. I want to help fill the hole, you just got a first hand demonstration of what I can do, and as you showed earlier, I look like your mom."_

She sits down on the edge of the bed and pulls a picture out of her wallet, the picture of her and Summer in their flight suits after their first flight together.  
 _"I was very close to her, we went to Beacon together, and she took a liking to being able to fly. This is a picture of her and I together after our first flight. I was so worried I was going to scare her off and she wouldn't talk to me again. But when she got off the plane she was excited to do it again. That was only about a week after I left home, I got lost and ended up in Vacuo during the Vytal festival. Summer saw my plane and was really interested, she gave me her number after mere minutes of talking."_

She looks over to find Ruby staring at her, her silver eyes filled with tears. Amelia offers the picture to her, and she looks at it before smiling slightly.  
 _"Little Rose, my name is Amelia Ellis. Your mom and I helped each other as if we were sisters. She stayed by my side whenever I got injured, and when it came time for you to be born I was waiting right outside the delivery room. I've protected you for most of your life and I know you got the batches of cookies I baked for you. I have been your guardian angel, hence why your family calls me that. Now, would you have me as an aunt?"_

Ruby bolts forward and hugs Amelia, her tears soaking into Amelia's cloak as she rubs circles in the girls back.  
"Please...I would love you to." Ruby sobs, holding Amelia tightly.

 _"Very well, come along, we have much to talk about, and I believe I owe you a batch of cookies."_

* * *

Once Ruby had calmed down enough Amelia leads her downstairs by the hand, and they sit on the couch, where Ruby keeps herself plastered against Amelia's side while she explains her life story. Yang had heard parts of it, but was left in the dark that her sister's guardian angel was a mercenary from another planet.  
"Wait, you really were a mercenary?" She asks, her voice filled with skepticism as Amelia sighs, knowing she wouldn't believe it.  
 _"Yes Yang, I killed people for money, do I need to share images with you?"  
_ Yang nods, but quickly regrets her decision when Amelia bombards her with a mental replay of her stabbing a Taliban leader in the throat repeatedly.  
"Oh my god...that's disgusting.." she jumps up and runs to the bathroom, where the sounds of her emptying her breakfast can be heard shortly after.  
Tai scowls at Amelia, but quickly shrugs and throws another log in the fireplace, causing the crackling to double before calming down.  
She continues her story, and Yang comes back in several minutes later.  
After two hours of visiting Amelia's phone buzzes, and she checks it before quickly standing up.  
 _"Well, I regret to inform you all that I must be taking my leave. Always a pleasure Tai, Yang. Ruby It's nice to formally meet you, I'll keep in touch."  
_ With that she picks up her scarf, wraps it around her neck, and grabs her bag and rifle before quickly leaving.

She's off the porch before Ruby opens the door and calls after her.  
"Thank you Angel!"  
Amelia pauses and turns around, giving Ruby a warm smile.  
 _"You are very welcome little rose, I'll get you those cookies next time I visit."  
_ With that she pulls her hood up and walks off into the forest, quickly disappearing from sight as she weaves among the snow-covered maple trees.


	2. Chapter 2

**Here's chapter two of Thorns for the Roses! Sorry for making y'all wait, I hit a bit of a brick wall with writer's block.**

* * *

 _"Italics with just quotes"-_ Amelia, the main character, is talking.

 _"'Italics'"_ \- another character is communicating telepathically with Amelia.

[] or {} - Radio communications

* * *

Amelia smiles the entire way to the airport, and that smile doesn't leave even after she'd dressed in her flight suit and stowed her gear in the bomb bay of her F-105D.

While she's waiting for permission to take off she texts Tai telling him to send the girls out in a minute, and he responds immediately.

Finally the passenger plane gets out of the way and Amelia takes off in full afterburner, quickly taking off and looping around so she flies over Tai's house. The white wings painted on the fuselage behind the cockpit glow in the sunlight, and Amelia makes a pass over the house at treetop level, flying just barely above stall speed. The two girls are ecstatic, jumping and waving as Amelia makes a second pass, tilting her right wing towards the ground to show off the decals behind her cockpit.

After hamming it up for the girls she turns towards Vale and throttles up, streaking over the rolling snow-covered landscape at nearly the speed of sound only two hundred feet above the treetops for a cheap thrill. The mountains of Patch give way to the ocean, and Amelia climbs up to five thousand feet before looking at the frozen over water below, the ice pack buckling in places and simply breaking apart in others.

Her sightseeing is interrupted when a FA/18E Super Hornet pulls up alongside her, the purple-clad pilot throwing a casual wave when Amelia looks at her. Amelia Quickly tunes her radio to the old squadron net and a familiar voice crackles over the radio.  
[Welcome home Angel, hope you didn't have too much fun without us.]

Amelia rolls her eyes and turns her microphone on.  
 _"Thank you Razor, it was rather relaxing. Anything of importance happen while I was away?"_

[That's a negative, quiet as a mouse over here, not even any Grimm calls.]

Amelia grins as she lines up with the runway, the familiar approach being second nature by now as she lowers her landing gear and slows for the landing.

The landing is flawless, the large tires of the aircraft gently kiss the frosty tarmac before Amelia pops the drag chute and decelerates. Kimberly flies over and zoom climbs up into the clouds, disappearing into the wall of gray.

Amelia slowly guides the F-105 off the runway and down the all too familiar flight line, past a pair of bright orange A-4 Skyhawks being serviced by men in bulky winter clothes.

She opens the canopy while she's taxiing, and upon reaching a hangar with a black heart above the door she parks the aircraft and powers down before leaping from the cockpit, falling several feet to the tarmac. She's just finishing up getting her bag out of the bomb bay when four people walk down the flight line towards her. Jackson and Janet falling slightly behind the two teenagers as they sprint over.

Amelia welcomes them with open arms, and they engage in a group hug while Janet and Jackson slowly walk over.

"Welcome back! You're going to love what Neo did!" Jackson cheers, wrapping her up in a hug, shortly accompanied by a kiss on the lips.

 _"And what would that be? I swear if she cartwheeled another plane down the runway..."_

Jackson laughs as the teen stomps on her toes furiously, but to no avail as she's wearing steel-toed boots.  
"No, she didn't crash again. She splashed her first bandit! A MIG-21 with Egyptian markings."

Amelia smiles and turns to the girl next to her, who beams with pride before pulling a small book out of her combat vest and showing the tally mark to her.

 _"That's great kiddo! We'll make a pilot out of you yet!"_ Amelia teases, poking the girl in the ribs.

The black-haired girl punches her sister in the shoulder before retreating to avoid the return blow.

 _"And what about you Sierra? Any success with the Hawkeye missiles you've been training with?"_

She nods and grins in return, giving a thumbs up to indicate success.

 _"Let me guess, your semblance is giving you troubles?"_ Amelia asks, hefting the large backpack onto her shoulder.

Sierra nods solemnly, her emerald eyes downcast in disappointment. Amelia smiles and rubs her head, messing up her hair. _"Don't worry about it, it just takes practice, you'll be as good as me someday."_

Sierra cheers up and nods before poking Neo in the ribs playfully, causing Neo to chase her down the flight line towards the two A-4's.

"Hell of a household we have, three mutes and a fighter pilot." Jackson chuckles, earning a slug in the shoulder from Amelia.

 _"Speaking of households, how's Jacques training going? You haven't said much about him."_ Amelia turns to Janet, who in turn grins and pulls a picture out of her vest, showing it to her. In it is a cat Faunus in camouflage fatigues and a full combat load, including a rifle similar to the Israeli TAR-21 and a large radio pack.

"He's doing great! He's doing indirect fire exercises near mountain Glenn right now." To emphasize what Janet says across the airfield a battery of 155mm howitzers thunder one round each, the sound rolling across the airfield and down into Vale. The guns remain silent for several minutes before the sound of the intercom squelches.

{Jasper this is Mako, good effect on target! Coordinates confirmed, fire for effect!}

The guns thunder ten more times as the Amelia, Jackson, and Janet walk towards the A-4's.

Sierra and Neo have already climbed into the front seats of the aircraft, and are patiently waiting with the canopy closed and their helmets on.  
Janet puts her helmet on and nimbly climbs into the back seat of Sierras plane, despite her waning age. Jackson gives Amelia another kiss before putting his helmet on and climbing into the A-4 with Neo.

Amelia stands back while the two planes start up, and she holds a salute as they taxi down the flight line past her.  
She watches in satisfaction as the two orange planes take off and turn towards Mt. Glenn, their pylons loaded with rockets and bombs. She grins and reaches into her pocket, pulling out a pack of cigarettes before putting one in her mouth and lighting it.  
After happily watching the aircraft ascend into the clouds she happily walks off towards a quartet of houses on the hill above the airfield, their upper stories in clear view of the airfield over the bald maple trees surrounding them.

* * *

The short walk is refreshing, and Amelia smiles the entire way to the small neighborhood that had been built exclusively for her squadron's families. When she reaches the row of houses a young wolf Faunus runs out of the first building and hits her in a flying hug.

"Welcome back Auntie Angel!" The child cheers as Amelia hugs him and scratches behind his gray wolf ears.

 _"Thank you Lucas, it feels good to be home, is your mom home?"_

"Nope! She said she'd be home tonight, she's giving a new batch their wings." Lucas chirps, his gray tail swishing back and forth behind him.

 _"Ahh okay, is your dad home? Or is he working late tonight?"_

Lucas opens his mouth to respond, but a black hummer drives up the road and pulls into the driveway of his house, and he quickly rushes off to greet his dad.

Amelia grins and waves to the muscular wolf Faunus that steps out, his gray and black fatigues neatly pressed.  
"Welcome back Angel! Hope you enjoyed your trip!" He yells just before Lucas slams into him, wrapping him up in a hug

 _"Thank you! Banquet dinner tonight! Same time as always!"_

He gives her a thumbs up and picks up Lucas, putting the twelve year old on his shoulders before walking up the steps and into the house.

Amelia sighs happily and continues down the street before turning into the last driveway. She walks up the steps and opens the unlocked door, welcoming the warmth that blows through the door as she enters and closes it behind her.

She quietly takes off her boots and sets them on a rack beside the door before walking upstairs, where the kitchen, living room, and master bedroom are. She then heads into the bedroom and takes off her equipment, stowing her rifle in a rack on the wall beside the bed. Once her equipment is put in its proper place she unpacks all her clothes and puts them in her dresser before hanging her cloak and scarf on hooks by the stairs, where her black cloak hangs, as well as a pure white cloak. She then heads downstairs, where the squadron office is, and sits down at her desk, where there's a small pile of mail.

She pulls her stiletto out of a small box on the desk and flicks it open, grabbing the first envelope and cutting it open before pulling out the letter inside and reading the letter with a grin, once she's done reading it she lays it on Jackson's desk before grabbing the next letter and cutting it open.

She reads it and pulls out a list enclosed, and reads that too before rolling her chair over to a filing cabinet and filing the two papers under 'Desert Rats'.

Amelia continues opening mail for a solid hour before she runs out. Then she reaches across her desk and turns on the radio set there before sliding her desktop microphone in front of her.

She reaches over once more and turns a dial from 'Radio' to 'Base PA system' before transmitting.  
 _"A friendly reminder to all unit members and families, the annual banquet is tonight at eighteen hundred hours! This includes ground crew, flight crew, armorers, guards, cooks, pilots, and paratroopers! Food will be ready at eighteen thirty! That is all."_

She slides the microphone back and turns the dial back to 'Radio' before tuning to the combat frequency, which remains quiet.

She spends the next two hours updating the company roster and looking through equipment requests sent in by employees, laughing at some, while approving others and putting them on Jackson's desk. Satisfied with a couple hours' worth of work she turns the radio off and walks upstairs, her long black and red hair gently swaying behind her as she ascends the wooden stairs.

She grabs a cup of coffee and sits down in the living room, overlooking the airfield through the window.

The airfield had been abandoned by Vale in the process of switching between faster airships and the VTOL aircraft they use now, and in turn had been given to Amelia's company by the council as a gift for their service. With the help of some generous donations from the Schnee Dust Company they had managed to change the airfield from a civilian airport into a functioning military airbase, complete with anti-air defenses, firing range, barracks, and training grounds. The surrounding area had also been donated, so anyone who had a family could bring them on base to live there, and the council had even had houses made free of charge for the company founders.

Amelia reflects on the past few years while looking over the white landscape, and she's soon broken out of her daydreaming when a gray and white C130 lands at the airfield, sending the light fluffy snow flying in a white cloud behind it as it taxis.

Amelia smiles and drinks her coffee, waiting for a convoy of trucks to drive in through the main gate, the backs of them being crammed full of freshly trained recruits from jump training. She doesn't wait long, and a convoy of five black MTVR's drive in, led by a single black HMMWV.

Even from a long distance Amelia recognizes the blonde that steps out of the Humvee and addresses the men after they line up. Cassie had given up on flying a few years before, and had instead opted to start recruiting both humans and Faunus for a new branch of the company; Paratroopers.

Since then the stout blonde with the help of Giora had trained over twenty thousand troops, specializing them in search and rescue and all types of ground combat, and the number increased every year.

Janet had taken to training a select few of those to be Forward Observers, whose job it was to call in the air support and direct artillery fire.

The armored and artillery branches had been founded by Kimberly several years back, and seemed to be very successful in eliminating Grimm, as well as providing support to any Huntsmen who dared leave the safety of Vale's walls. In combination with the paratroopers the three ground elements became nearly unstoppable, capable of being moved anywhere on Remnant in a matter of hours due to the lightweight nature of the tanks and armored personnel carriers, which most were designed with aircraft transport in mind.

While only thirty thousand strong, the company made up for their numbers in training, and in training exercises had even beat some of Atlas's best on several occasions.

In the first months of the ground branches lives, there had been multiple problems with racism between Humans and Faunus, but the founders all quickly banded together and smashed the problem before it could embed itself in the units. The co-existence had been their greatest achievement, and Amelia nearly broke out in tears of joy when she heard that a Faunus had been defended by his human comrades when a woman began spouting anti-Faunus propaganda to him.

Atlas military leaders had been the most irritated with the co-existence, which only made the victories sweeter when the company beat them clear across the board, in both air and ground exercises. The Atlas pilots had taken to the skies in droves, expecting the new ally to be a complete pushover, but had incredibly underestimated the training and experience of the pilots, who at times faced 6:1 odds and won against the advanced fighters of the kingdom.  
The ground troops had done even better, and on the mock battlefield of Atlas had used the Faunus in their ranks to attack during the black of night on the first night, instilling confusion and panic in the overconfident Atlas's troops, succeeding in winning against the force twice their size in mere hours.  
As the now retired Giora had put it 'the swiftness of the action from the company made the six day war seem like trench warfare'.

Shortly after Cassie finishes giving the new batch of paratroopers their jump wings Kimberly lands, accompanied by Neo and Sierra, who both expertly touch down and taxi to their parking areas.  
Once they power down a HMMWV comes along and picks them up, as well as Cassie and a few others, and drives them up to the houses.  
Amelia knocks back the rest of her coffee and heads to the door, grabbing her cloak to help protect her from the wind before she puts her boots on and heads out to greet everyone.

* * *

The HMMWV stops in the middle of the snow-dusted street and everyone piles out, laughing and chatting while the vehicle drives off.  
Everyone heads over to Amelia and gathers around, welcoming her in their usual ways.

Jacques walks up to her and gives her a hug, his green and white fatigues contrasting against her gray cloak.

"It's good to see you Angel, you'll be happy to hear that Sierra absolutely smashed a Deathstalker yesterday, she's getting good with those Hawkeye missiles."

Amelia smiles and pats Sierra on the head. _"That's good to hear, and how about Neo?"_

Jackson steps in and a small airplane appears above his opened palm. It's quickly shredded by the guns of an orange A-4 and the illusion disappears.  
"She's doing well, her air-to-air is outstanding, but her ground attack could still use some work _._ But she's scoring top marks on the rifle range, as well as she's been dominating hand-to-hand."

Amelia raises an eyebrow and looks at her daughter, who smiles, and her differently colored eyes switch sides.

 _"Are you sure you don't want to be a paratrooper? You'd get to do more of that kind of stuff."_

Neo just shrugs and does a hand motion. ' _We'll talk about it later.'_

Amelia nods and is suddenly tackled by Cassie in a flying hug, knocking the two of them to the ground.

Amelia gets the wind knocked out of her and tries to recover while her sister squeezes her, both of them laying on the icy pavement of the driveway.  
 _"Cassie get the hell off me I can't breathe!"_

Everyone else hauls Cassie off her and lets her breathe before helping her stand, but when Jackson helps her to her feet there's a slight clatter of metal and she falls into him, quickly throwing her arm around his neck to keep herself from falling. Jackson catches her and supports her right side, but when Amelia tries to walk on the limb there's another tinkling of metal, and her leg comes off, revealing a metal prosthetic.

Amelia glares daggers at Cassie while Neo picks up the metal limb and tucks it under one arm.

 _"Now look what you did! You are way too old for the flying hug, so stop doing it!"_

Cassie nods and hangs her head before picking up her green and white camouflage helmet. "Sorry..."

With the help of Jackson and Sierra she hops forward and hugs Cassie, laying her head on the blonde's before hopping back.

 _"It's alright, but you're fixing it this time."_

Cassie hangs her head again, and Amelia hobbles around, having Sierra and Jackson help her back up the icy steps and into the house, where they place her in the living room.

 _"Thank you, could you go get my replacement from the bedroom please? It should be under my side of the bed."_

Jackson grins and nods before walking down the hall, disappearing into the bedroom for a few minutes before emerging with another Prosthetic leg. He hands the matte black leg to Amelia, who hikes up her fatigues to reveal a metal plate attached to her leg, less than halfway down her thigh.

She pulls a multi-tool out of her pocket, opens the pliers, and pulls a small circuitry chip out of an insert port on the plate.  
Jackson pulls a similar chip out of the prosthetic and hands it to her before putting the leg on and giving it a sudden twist as Amelia pushes the card into the slot. With a quick wince she works the leg, wiggling the toes and bending the knee before standing up.

 _"That's better, well, everyone should get ready for the banquet tonight, and I've got some important news to give."_

She rolls her fatigues down and gives Jackson a quick peck on the cheek before walking down the hall and into the bedroom. She changes out of her dirty fatigues and changes into a new pair with a black and gray camouflage pattern.

She's just putting her holster on her belt when a shy voice squeaks in her head.  
 _"'Hey mom...?'"_

Amelia flinches at first, and turns to see Sierra peeking around the door.  
 _"Yes honey?"_

 _"'What should I wear?'"_

 _"Just your BDU's, it's a casual year."_

 _"'Okay, thanks!'"_

Sierra disappears around the corner and Amelia finishes putting her holster on, her black synthetic belt proving to be difficult with the black leather holster as she tries to thread it through.

Jackson walks in a minute later, and noticing her trouble helps her with it, finally managing to get it put on right before he changes into similar looking fatigues.

Amelia throws her black cloak on and puts a black officer's cap on her head before heading into the living room, where Neo is ready to go. Sierra walks in shortly after, in her black and gray fatigues with her hair in her twin-tails. Amelia sits down in a black leather chair and engages in casual mental conversation with her two daughters while Jackson gets ready.

Several minutes later Jackson walks in, his trusty Colt on his hip as he places a cap on his head.  
"Well then, shall we?"

Everyone nods and stands up, putting their boots on before walking out into the cold.


	3. Chapter 3

The crisp, cold air carries with it the laughter and music from the base, where one of the hangars has been converted into a ballroom, colorful streamers hang across the top of the doors and people mill about.

Cassie, Lucas, and Jason meet them in front of their house, shortly followed by Kimberly and her husband. They all walk down the road together, and Amelia notes the extra amount of guards scattered around the base. The wind scatters a thin layer of snow over the tarmac as they cross the open space.

The rattling of metal tracks on pavement brings Amelia's attention to a pair of MBT's identical to the IDF Merkava Mk IV. They rattle past and head out the main entrance, both tank commanders giving Amelia a brief salute as they ride past, their faces obstructed by their full-head helmets.

"Go get 'em boys!" Kimberly cheers, giving a salute of her own as they ride by.

The Merkava style tanks were one of two vehicles in the company's arsenal too heavy to be airdropped, and thus were mainly used for hunter in distress missions in small numbers. They could carry six troops in a compartment in the rear of the vehicle, and were heavy enough that they could shrug off a charge from a small Goliath. Fitting for their weight the tanks also carried a heavyweight punch; a 120mm smoothbore cannon capable of accurately hitting targets at three miles, making it the deadliest and most versatile vehicle in the company's arsenal.

They were Kimberly's pride and joy, and they were only issued to the most experienced of tank crews.

Amelia grins in satisfaction as she observes the vehicles and weapons at the disposal of the company, the fantastic troops mingling in front of her, and the military base that had essentially been torn down and then built from the ground up.

She's broken from her pride-instilled daze by Jackson, who nudges her in the ribs with his elbow. "Hey, you alright?"

She nods, looking around once more before straightening her cap.  
 _"Yeah, just marveling at how far we've come."_

He chuckles and takes her arm in his, leading her towards the hangar. "Yeah, it's kinda surreal. We aren't a bunch of lost twenty year olds fresh out of a conflict we didn't belong in. We've got what is essentially our own standing military capable of taking on anything and everything that Remnant can throw at us."  
Amelia nods and takes a glass of fruit punch from a nearby table, sipping it thoughtfully as her and Jackson make their way up to a podium.

He steps up onto the podium and looks out over the crowd of men and women under his command, many notice him and Amelia standing there, and turn their attention to them.

Jackson turns on the microphone.  
"Ladies and Gentlemen, may I have your attention please."

Those who were caught up in conversation stop talking and turn towards him while one of the mechanics turns on a light, highlighting him up on the podium.  
"Wow. I cannot believe how far we have come. It seems like only last week I was a twenty-two year old, scared shitless and acting as flypaper for SAM's with a handful of friends and family. But look at how far we've come. Not only have we set up bases on all three of the major continents, but we've also become better equipped and trained than the leading formal military on Remnant. Having said that, allow me to introduce those who have never done this before, and remind the old geezers where they're at. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome, to the twentieth anniversary of Taijitu Contracting Company!"

The crowd breaks into cheers and applause, and Jackson waits for them to calm down before continuing.  
"Having said that, our second in command has some things to say before we pop the cork on this party."

He steps back from the podium and Amelia takes his place, she turns off the microphone and simply uses her projection to be heard.  
 _"First off, I would like to say that it is amazing knowing that this is only a fraction of the troops we have. I would like to thank each and every one of you for making this milestone possible. You all have accomplished great feats, and in the future I hope you all can manage to keep surprising me. I've also been made aware of some matchmaking that has been happening in the air corps. Congratulations to those who have chosen to marry, and good luck to those who are dating. Very soon there is a solid chance that we will embark upon a mission from which we will help humanity as we know it, not just humanity, but everyone, excluding the Grimm of course. I expect you all to be ready for anything, and if you give it your all, every last one of you may come out alive. That is all, now back to the commander."_

She steps back from the podium and Jackson steps forward again, raising his glass after he turns the microphone on.  
"And with that! Let the party commence!"

The crowd bursts into cheering, and the music resumes as Amelia and Jackson step down from the podium into the crowd.  
They grab a few small snacks and head out onto the tarmac, where a HMMWV is waiting to take Amelia back to the house.  
"So what's the deal today?"

Amelia opens the door and steps in, flashing Jackson a smile as she settles into the seat.  
 _"Ruby's coming into town, I'm just going to make sure she stays out of trouble."_

Jackson leans in and kisses her before closing the door, allowing the vehicle to drive off.

When she gets back to the house Amelia gets dressed in a black plate carrier over her fatigues and grabs her rifle, stashing it under her cloak before heading back outside to the HMMWV, which takes her out the front gate and into the city.

* * *

 _"This is fine, thank you."  
_ The HMMWV rolls to a stop around the corner from the docks, and Amelia climbs out, pulling her cloak around her before flipping the hood up.

This part of Vale is completely void of snow, the city's climate control system moderately helps with that. But the air still carries still carries its sharp winter bite.  
She watches in silence from the evening shadows as Ruby walks out of the airship, a pair of red headphones over her ears with her hood up. Amelia follows her from a distance, even utilizing the rooftops where permitted. As always when she does this she feels sort of bad for essentially stalking the child, but justifies it easily and carries on, noting Ruby's unobservant nature as she walks down the sidewalk.

Ruby spends plenty of time cruising through weapon shops for any possible upgrades for her weapon Crescent Rose, but soon she finds herself in a dust shop, reading a weapons magazine. Amelia stands on a rooftop across the street, her black cloak blending in with the ink-black sky as she scans for threats.

After another five minutes of standing in the cold, movement in an alley catches her attention, and using a night-vision upgrade to her robotic eye she almost instantly reaches for her rifle.

Roman Torchwick, one of if not the most wanted criminal in Vale, steps into the street lights, flanked by five men in tuxedos and sunglasses, despite it being well past sundown.  
She thumbs the safety on her rifle and pushes aside her cloak, preparing to aim at him, but she hesitates for too long, and soon he enters the dust shop. She tries her best to draw a bead on him, but the shop owner is directly on the opposite side of him, if she fires the round might over-penetrate and hit the shop owner.

With a frustrated huff she puts her rifle back underneath her cloak and waits, watching the henchmen disperse throughout the small one-story shop and start stealing dust from the large canisters lining the walls. Her adrenaline spikes when she sees one of the henchmen pull a sword and advance towards Ruby, again she pulls her rifle and aims at him. But it's the same situation, if she fires the round may pass straight through him and hit Ruby, so she holds her fire, patiently waiting for Ruby to do something to the threat.

She just about busts out laughing when Ruby kicks him clear across the shop, sending him crashing into a glass display of books on dust mixing.

Amused to see how this will turn out Amelia puts her rifle back in her cloak and watches as another henchman approaches with a Dust pistol in hand, and Ruby quickly sends him flying through the front window of the shop.

A small grin appears on Amelia's face as she watches the girl unfold, and then expertly twirl her scythe around, ending in her turning off the music blaring through her headphones.  
 _I would've brought some popcorn if I knew this was going to happen._

The following asskicking that ensues makes her wish she'd trained with a scythe at Beacon, and she watches in amusement as the sixteen year old girl single handedly takes out all of the henchmen, without killing a single one.

When the last henchman lands near him Amelia hears Torchwick mumble something about being worth every cent right before aiming his cane at Ruby. Amelia pushes her cloak aside to grab at her rifle, but it's too late, and in a flash of light and dust he disappears. Ruby looks around and finds him climbing a ladder down the street, and goes after him in a blur of red, leaving a trail of rose petals in her wake.

Amelia jumps down to street level, letting a very capable Ruby chase after the villain while she cable-cuffs all the unconscious henchmen and polices their weapons.  
The store owner gets off the phone with the police and flinches when he sees Amelia knelt by one of the henchmen, but when she pulls back her cloak revealing the patch on her left shoulder he calms down and helps her drag the men against the wall.

One of the men wakes up roughly thirty seconds later, and strains against the cuffs while trying to stand up. To remedy this Amelia sticks the muzzle of her rifle in his face, noticing her uniform he quickly sits back down and stops resisting.

The telltale whistling of a Bullhead's engines brings Amelia's attention to the sky, where the battered craft flies off in the direction of the warehouses, blue ice crystals jutting out of the upper fuselage.  
 _I've seen those crystals somewhere before...Oh shit, Glynda?!_

She stands guard over the henchmen until the police arrive, where she then turns them over to the officers, claiming she was out to get some dust, and walked up, finding the store trashed and the henchmen unconscious.

Once finished giving her statement she waits around and Ruby is walked down the street by a familiar woman.  
 _"Well hello Glynda, a surprise to see you again."  
_ Ruby's eyes light up when she hears Amelia, but she keeps her mouth shut until an officer comes to take her statement.

* * *

Once the two give their statement Ruby hugs Amelia and cowers against her side as the two older women talk.

 _"So how has Beacon been since I last visited? Any new teachers?"_

"Yes, a few, however all the teachers that you had are still there teaching."

Amelia raises both eyebrows. _"Even Peter Port? Geez, the dude was old when I was going there, call me impressed."_

Glynda lets out a smirk and nods before pointing to Ruby.  
"My apologies, but I'm going to need Miss Rose to come with me."

Amelia smiles before putting an arm over Ruby's shoulders.  
 _"Of course, as long as I am allowed to come with. After all, I am missing the anniversary banquet to spend time with her."_

Glynda ponders for a minute before shrugging and waving them along, where she leads the two to a car around the corner.  
Ruby climbs in the back seat, and Amelia takes the front passenger seat, leaving Glynda to drive them to the police station.

The car has a fresh pine smell, and the leather seats seem to curve around Amelia as they weave through the streets. Despite receiving a glare from Goodwitch she keeps her rifle in her hands, constantly scanning the dark alleys and side streets as they drive past. Several times she glances over her left shoulder, checking to see if they're being tailed and checking on Ruby, who is nervously staring at her hands in her lap.

She tries to think of comforting words, but she'd been in similar situations with Glynda before, she knows that they'll fall on deaf ears.

As soon as they reach the police station Glynda herds Ruby into an interrogation room, leaving Amelia to sit on the other side of the one-way mirror and watch as Glynda angrily paces, giving Ruby an earful on laws and authority. Amelia rolls her eyes and sits down in a folding chair, kicking her feet up onto the counter with an audible thud.

Glynda shoots a piercing glare at Amelia through the mirror, causing her to grin and give her the finger, knowing that the woman can't see through the glass.

 _And there isn't a damn thing you can do about it._

* * *

 _ **POV switch-Jackson Ellis**_.

The banquet was fun, and Jackson got a chance to speak with people he normally wouldn't be able to. But he had more important things to do, and after a few hours of mingling he rounds up the girls and heads to the house, leaving the girls to do nearly whatever they want while he works on the bane of his existence as company commander; paperwork.

The small stack on his desk has a note on it from Amelia, simply reading 'Safe before reading'.

He reaches under his desk and punches out a code on a keypad before the picture of the founders on the wall slides to one side, revealing a small safe. He carefully turns the dial, finally opening it with a 'click!' and pulling out a large folder from inside.

He flops back down in his chair and opens the folder, revealing an SDC crest on the front page. Suddenly he gets an uneasy feeling, which is odd, considering he'd dealt with this crest at least a hundred times in the past. Nonetheless, he turns the page, reading the header of text before turning the page again to reveal a pair of pictures.  
He freezes, staring at the face of a person in shock before reading the mountain of text below the pictures.

"Holy shit... Alright..." He mumbles to himself as he turns the pages, revealing another set of pictures and more text.

He reads through the rest of the pages, only getting more and more irritated with every page before finally closing the folder and placing it back in the safe.  
"So _that's_ what she meant..."

* * *

 _ **POV switch- Kimberly**_.

"Alright Dawn, start her up and let's get this show on the road!" Kimberly yells down into the hatch of her Merkava as she climbs in, the fighting compartment smells like a mixture of iron, cordite, and sweat. The padded seat seems to leech all the heat out of her backside when she sits down in it, causing her to give a shiver before there's a rumble of the engine starting.

[Engine started, give it a minute to warm up and we'll be off.]

The driver calls out over the vehicle intercom as she revs the engine a few times, idling it at a higher RPM to warm the cold Diesel engine.  
"Roger that, our dismounts are on board and comfortable. How are we looking for ammo Christie?"

The bear Faunus loader flips a switch to open the partition separating the ammunition from the rest of the turret and looks at the ammunition storage.  
[Let's see here... our usual twenty four Sabot, ten HESH, ten canister, and four guided missiles.]

"Excellent, let's keep the tube empty for now. Amanda how are the systems going? All booted up?"

[Almost, the sensor system is being temperamental as always, I've got eight out of twelve so far, mostly on the turret.]  
The shy panther Faunus reports through the intercom, a hint of irritation in her voice as she drums her fingers on the side of a screen.

"Of course it is...keep working on it. Christie get the coax loaded and put it on safe, I'll get my roof gun loaded and yours too if you're not done by then."

[Sure thing, I appreciate it.]

Amelia grabs a can of .50 caliber from a rack next to her and heaves it out the hatch, placing it on the roof of the turret as she opens the feed tray for the large machine gun. The green ammunition can fits perfectly in a box on the side of the mount, and she feeds the belt of ammunition up into the weapon before slamming the tray closed and roughly pulling on the charging handle. The gun makes a clatter as the bolt inside pushes the round into the chamber.

Kimberly then ducks back down into the hatch before heaving a smaller ammo can out the hatch. She follows it out and kneels down on the roof of the turret while she loads Christie's weapon.

When she finishes she looks towards the other four tanks in her platoon, who have all started their engines, and are in various stages of readiness.  
The nearest Merkava commander gives her a thumbs up and drops down the hatch, closing it behind him as the next tank down the line, an exact copy of the Striker MGS, traverses its turret at various angles while the gunner checks the traverse.

Even further down the line is an exact copy of the Leopard 2A6 (confirmed to be ready by the commander), and yet another Leopard, whose commander also gives the signal that they're ready to go.

Kimberly climbs back into the hatch and swings it closed over her.  
"Alright, everyone else is ready to go, how are the sensors looking?"

Amanda glances up at the screen and taps on it a couple times.  
[Alright, we're all set. The last one on the back of the turret is being a pain in the ass, but it'll warm up on the drive.]

Kimberly pats her on the shoulder reassuringly and turns on her command radio.  
"All tanks report in, Razor one is ready."

[Razor two, standing by.]  
[Archer, ready.]  
[Razor three, ready.]  
[Razor four, standing by.]

Kimberly grins and gives her driver the order to move out before switching back to the command radio.  
"All tanks, fall in behind us, we'll adjust formation when we get closer to the target area."

The tank eases forward, picking up speed as the heavy treads clatter on the pavement. The five tanks roll out the main entrance, their engines all giving a throaty rumble as they pass through the checkpoint and head down the road into Vale.  
The white/gray/brown camouflage of the vehicles looks absurd in the center of Vale, and they do get some strange looks for it, but once they get out of the city walls the camouflage blends in perfectly. The heavy vehicles take on the deep snow no problem, pushing it out of the way without a care in the world as they head down the road to a village, which had been getting attacked by Grimm regularly over the last few nights.

When they pull into the village the streets are lined with people, both human and Faunus alike, and are cheering.  
Kimberly opens her hatch and raises her seat so half her torso sticks out, quickly ordering a halt.

An elderly man walks up to the side of her tank, and she calls out to him over the sound of the crowd and the engines.  
"Which direction do the attacks usually come from!?"

He turns around and points towards some foothills, where a large clearing sits in between the village and the trees.

"Alright, don't you worry, they won't get past us!"

The man nods in response, a smile spreading across his face as he steps back from the tank.

Kimberly gets on the radio and describes their plan of action, having Archer (the Striker MGS) set up on the ridge overlooking the village from the opposite direction of the suspected attack.  
She then has her vehicles move into position on the edge of the village, overlooking the four hundred or so yards to the pines at the other end of the field. The infantry in the back of the Merkava's dismount, setting up behind the low stone walls to either side of the tanks.

* * *

They lie in wait for hours before Kimberly's radio crackles to life.  
[Razor this is Archer, confirmed Nevermore's on the horizon, requesting permission to fire.]

She raises the hatch slightly so there's an opening to look out of without completely opening it.  
"Negative Archer, load canister, wait for my signal."

She raises a pair of binoculars to her eyes and looks at the tree line.  
Dozens of pairs of red eyes stare back at her from the shadows.

"All units, load canister, standby to fire on my mark."  
Out of the corner of her eye she watches Christie pull a canister shell out of the stowage and slam it into the gun breach effortlessly before flipping a small lever above her head.  
[Gun ready!]

Amanda looks through the gun sight and slowly slews the gun onto target before flashing Kimberly a thumbs up over her shoulder.  
Kimberly looks at the screen linked to the camera on her roof MG and takes aim at one of the pairs of eyes.

[Razor two, ready to fire.]  
[Razor three, ready.]  
[Razor four, on target.]  
[Archer, ready to fire.]

Kimberly watches the Grimm slowly emerge from the trees, the moonlight washing over them as they advance.  
"Company, command fire."

She waits for them to advance a little further before closing her hatch.  
"Company...Fire."

The canister shell in the breech is best described as a gigantic shotgun shell, holding dozens of ball bearings varying in size from a blueberry to a golf ball. Capable of shredding anything in its firing arc.

The four tanks all fire canister shells at the Grimm, making a wall of high-velocity steel that flies across the field and slams into the Grimm, ripping off limbs and tearing flesh in an outstanding display of firepower before the infantry opens fire, sending green tracers flying across the field.  
Kimberly grins as several Nevermore fall to the ground in front of them and dissolve into a black dust that is spread by the wind, having been shot down at long range by Archer.

[Round up!]

She grabs the controls for her roof MG and starts shooting any Grimm that survived the initial salvo, but just as quickly as the first wave had fallen the second wave rushes out of the woods, getting mere feet out of the dense pines before Amelia chuckles.  
"Company. Fire."

The four guns of the platoon thunder, once again shredding the Grimm before they make any progress.  
"All units, engage at will."

The gun fires again, and Christie pulls a HESH round out of the stowage, once again effortlessly slamming it into the gun breech.  
[UP!]

The coaxial MG chatters, the spent casings from it falling into a large canvas bag below it as Amanda slowly traverses the turret, mowing down the dozens of Grimm like blades of grass. A Beringel lopes out of the woods and Amanda fires the main cannon at it.  
The high-explosive shell hits the large Gorilla in the chest and detonates, leaving nothing behind but a smoking crater.

* * *

The one-sided fight carries on for several minutes before everything falls silent.  
Kimberly watches out over the cratered and shredded tree line for several minutes more, but nothing moves.  
"I do believe that's mission accomplished.

[That's affirmative Razor, no signs of anything, we killed them all.]

She fully opens her hatch and sticks her head out, scanning the trees once more.  
"Alright! Infantry, saddle up!"

All of the infantrymen leave their various positions and walk around to the back of the two Merkava's, where a hatch opens and they climb in, laughing and joking as they move.  
"Archer, return to the village, we're packing up."

[Archer copies, on the move.]

Christie opens her hatch and relaxes, pulling a thermos out of a rack behind her.  
"Hey Cap', you want some coffee?"

Kimberly nods and grabs a metal coffee cup out of a bag on the side of the turret.  
"Sure, why not."

Christie pours her a cup of the hot black liquid, and she happily sips it as the infantrymen finish loading up.  
"Alright Dawn, start her up."

[You got it boss.]

The engine roars to life easily, and all the other tanks start their engines as well.  
The rumble of the vehicles moving again soon draws the villagers out onto the streets, where they cheer and clap as the vehicles leave, one of the Leopards in the lead, followed by the Striker, both the Merkava's, and the other Leopard taking up the rear.

"Alright folks, first round is on me, excellent work. Let's go home."

* * *

 _ **POV change- Cassie**_

As she paces the floor of her office Cassie listens for the sound of tank tracks outside, nervously waiting for Kimberly to return with a dozen of her best paratroopers. She had another mission for the elite squad, one that she trusted very few to take due to the sensitive nature of it.

Finally after an hour of waiting impatiently, the silence of the night is broken by the clattering of tank treads and the growl of Diesel engines.

Cassie heads out to welcome the force back, and waves to each of the tank commanders as they roll past.

She grabs one of her guards and sends him as a runner to retrieve the squad, and he comes back several minutes later. "Ma'am, the Lieutenant said they will be here shortly, they just need to rearm first."

"Thank you, you may head home now."

"Yes ma'am. Have a good night."

"You as well."

The guard leaves, and Cassie sips patiently at a cup of coffee behind her desk as she waits, soon there's a knock at the door.

"Enter."

A dozen men and women walk in and stand at parade rest in front of the desk before a muscular bear Faunus steps forward.

"You called for us Captain?" His deep voice reflects his size, she'd watched this same man roll a HMMWV off its side on his own once.

"Yes I did, I've got another mission for you all, and this one is _very_ important."

He grins at 'important' and nods, the rest of his squad look just as enthusiastic.

"I need you to head to Atlas, there is supposedly a person of great importance to all of the founders there. I need you to find her, collect evidence that she is there, and report back. She disappeared fourteen years ago, and if she is indeed there, we're going to war."

At 'war' everyone's grin widens, and they all nod to each other in agreement; they're going to do their best on this mission.

"You got it boss. Where should we start and who's the lucky lady?"

Cassie pulls a large folder out of a desk drawer and plops it on the table, laying her finger on a face in a picture.

"The SDC Dust mines, and her name is Summer Rose."

* * *

 **[A/N: Oh yes, I'm going there, but the big show won't be for a while. I actually put some more thought into which vehicles I've chosen for the tanks and APC's, though keep in mind when I say 'exact copy' I'm being rather generic; Yes, the vehicle looks and operates like the real deal, but fire control systems, optics, etc. are different since they don't have the actual blueprints.**

 **No I'm not adding the M1 Abrams, Bradley IFV, or Linebacker IFV, because compared to other vehicles they just aren't quite up to what I'm trying to accomplish. However, if there are armored vehicles that y'all want added (such as the French Leclerc MBT), leave a request in a review!**

 **As always, hoped you enjoyed, and stay tuned on all of my stories!**


	4. Chapter 4

**In this chapter of Thorns for the Roses, my co-author (Firestorm0110 from DeviantArt) makes her first appearance! And in the process makes my writing look bland.**

 **Without further ado, let the show begin!**

* * *

 _ **Ruby POV**_

"Well, okay."

For someone who had all but goaded her into joining his school with cookies, Ozpin had a funny way of showing his approval. Ruby paced about her Signal academy dorm room, plucking her belongings and her thoughts. Sure, she was a capable fighter; growing up surrounded by great huntsmen will do that to you. Being raised by Taiyang Xiao Long? Even more so. But being taught how to _fight_ by Qrow Branwen? That was like strawberries on top of the cake. Even with this in mind, Ruby had a dark feeling in her chest and felt frazzled as she stuffed her possessions into her suitcase.

Professor Ozpin, headmaster of Beacon, had personally invited her to jump two years ahead of her class and enter his academy. He had only seen her fight once, several hours earlier, and yet he was convinced of her skills immediately. Ruby didn't doubt her handiwork with Crescent Rose, her sniper-scythe, but she was also unsure if her presence among the older students would be welcome. They would be two whole years older than she, with two more years of fighting under their belts; wouldn't they scoff at her, a younger girl arrogant enough to enter the academy with them? Along with the older students, she would also be training alongside her sister, Yang. At this thought, she flopped down onto the carpet and dialed her sister's number into her phone. It rang once before Yang clicked into existence in her hand.

" _Yellow_!" Her older sister greeted her with a pun once again. "What's good, riding hood?"

"Nothing much, I'm just... _red_ y to see you."

A small snort could be heard on the other end. "I've taught you so well. Oh, ready to see me? Are you inviting yourself to come hang in my new dorm?"

Ruby smiled cheekily and spoke slower. "Actually, Professor Ozpin did the inviting for me."

"The headmaster himself? Whatcha mean?"

"Short story shorter, I got caught red-handed taking down some goons today by a Beacon professor. She took me to see the headmaster and he said, 'You are the greatest huntress-to-be I have ever seen. Please train at my school and fulfill your duty as a huntress, and I will reward you with as many cookies as you can eat.' So now I'm packing my-"

Ruby pulled the phone away before Yang made her deaf with her gleeful screaming. After she calmed down, Ruby raised the phone again. "You done?"

"YOU GOT ACCEPTED INTO _BEACON_?!"

"I know, right? What's that headmaster thinking?"

"Ruby, this is _amazing_!"

"Yeah, I guess. I mean I just skipped two years in, like, two minutes."

Suddenly, the dark-haired girl's head spun. Two years in two minutes. Was this really happening? Surely she wasn't dreaming or tripping on one too many cookies. What was in the cookies Ozpin gave her again? Ruby felt sick with the realization that she had basically taken food from a stranger. Within minutes of meeting a real Huntress, she'd broken one of the most basic rules: trusting people she had just met. Of course, she knew who Ozpin was, that he was Beacon's headmaster, that he was a professor. Even if it was polite to take things offered, she should have been more on guard; all that adrenaline from the fight had gotten to her. She definitely shouldn't mention the treats to Yang.

"Ruby, this means we could be in the same classes." Her sister halted the excitement and took a long sigh of relief, then continued. "I'm so so glad, now I can keep copying your dust homework like before."

" _Yang_ _no_."

"C'mon, who needs to know what dust is made of? All that matters is how you use it."

"You mean who you punch it with."

"You mean who I _pun_ ch it with."

"I'm hanging up-" Ruby meant that as a joke, only she accidentally hit the "hang up" button and heard the beginning of Yang's protest before it got cut off.

She sat up and messaged her sister quickly to defer any misunderstandings. The heavy feeling in her chest had loosened a bit after talking with Yang. Wishing her sister sweet dreams, she pulled herself up and finished packing her things. She even went so far as to lay out an outfit for the next day, a habit she already knew she wouldn't keep for long, although the feeling of starting somewhere new left her with anticipation and an itch to get there. She also felt a little silly: she'd been worried about going to a school with older students and hadn't fully thought out the fact that her sister would be there nearly every step of the way. Maybe she really would let the older brawler copy a couple assignments.

* * *

 _ **Next day, 1100 hours,**_

 _ **Amelia POV**_

Amelia watches in amusement as Neo stands in the fighting ring with four recruits facing her, her daughter wields her pink parasol, holding it open on her right shoulder.

Without a doubt she's about to watch these cocky FNG's get their asses handed to them, and she grins wildly before blowing the whistle to start the match.

The four recruits surge forward, but Neo doesn't bat an eye as the four try to rush her. Amelia knows what's happening, but the recruits fresh out of training are completely oblivious until the lead one punches Neo square in the jaw, and she shatters like glass.

Suddenly Neo is behind them, and she grins before hitting one of them across the neck with her parasol, knocking him unconscious with the aura-enhanced blow.

The others wheel around when they hear their comrade hit the floor, and one rushes at her, a pair of brass knuckles clenched in his right hand.

Neo waits until he swings, and then jumps up, grabbing his arm and swinging herself around so she's sitting on his shoulders. In one fluid motion she grabs her parasol at either end and pulls it hard against his throat, crudely choking him out while his friends circle them, not capitalizing on Neo being preoccupied.

It's only when the man falls to his knees that they rush forward and try to grab Neo, but again her form shatters like glass when they touch her, and she's behind them again. She swings her parasol like a baseball bat and knocks the feet out from under one before giving the other a swift kick in the back, sending him sprawling across the small arena. The soldier Neo knocked down gets up and tries to grab her small form around the waist, but she swiftly jabs him in the groin with the pointed end of her parasol, causing most of the onlookers to grab themselves protectively as he drops to his knees, his voice a few octaves higher. Neo bends down and gives him a peck on the forehead before driving her knee into the same spot, knocking him unconscious.

The final recruit rushes at her, and Neo ducks low, in between his legs before tripping him up and sending him over the ropes, finalizing her victory.

The crowd cheers and bet money exchanges hands as the veterans embarrass the recruits.

" _That's my girl!"_ Amelia claps as Neo front flips over the ropes and lands gracefully before making her way through the crowd up to her mom.

" _Good job kiddo, I don't think they're going to talk shit any time soon!"_

Neo shrugs it off and Amelia opens a mental link.

"' _It was nothing, I didn't even break a sweat. And I didn't even get to play around with them.'"_

Amelia smiles and rubs her head, messing up her hair and earning a death glare from the pint-sized badass.

" _Didn't get to mess with them? What do you call giving them a kiss before knocking them out?"_

Neo smiles and shrugs again.

"' _Gotta give them a kiss goodnight, y'know?'"_

Amelia shakes her head as the two leave the hand-to-hand facility and walk towards the HQ, where they tally up another win for Neo's hand-to-hand chart, which only has two losses for the year.

" _If you stopped challenging your dad and I you wouldn't have any losses."_

Neo glares at her before walking out, leaving her to do weekly casualty reports.

* * *

 **POV change- Kimberly, 3rd person**

 _ **Caution: sexual references ahead, you have been warned.**_

Kimberly walks down the lines of tanks in the vehicle depot, her crew follow close behind her while HMMWV's roll past, their embarked infantry ready to go outside the city walls.

"Alright! Our job today is simple! We're just going to the outskirts of Mt. Glenn for some exercises, then when we're done there we'll come back and have a girl's night out on my wallet!" Kimberly yells over the sound of the vehicles, receiving a nod from each of her crew as the other crews behind them climb into their respective tanks.

They finally reach a Merkava with a purple spade painted on the gun barrel, identifying it as Kimberly's personal tank.

Dawn climbs in first, easily twisting herself around to drop into the driver's hatch before closing the hatch over her head.

Amanda and Christie climb up onto the vehicle, and Amanda drops into the commander's hatch while grabbing the rim and pulling herself forward, which swings her into her seat all in one motion. Christie takes a slower approach, and simply climbs down into the vehicle, since her seat is not fixed in position.

Finally Kimberly climbs in, giving Dawn the okay to start the engine while Amanda starts trying to get the finicky Grimm sensor system on the outside of the vehicle to work.

Christie checks the ammunition load and loads the coaxial machine gun in a practiced fashion, which had been drilled into her mind through countless times of doing it.

Kimberly notes the change of her usual fifty caliber MG to an upgrade to the Mk19, capable of launching grenades further than the original weapon. She hefts the heavier box of ammunition up onto the turret roof and loads the weapon, while Christie finds that her roof mounted 7.62mm MG has been replaced with a fifty caliber MG, which packs more punch, but also has larger ammunition, making the overall ammunition count inside the vehicle less.

* * *

When she climbs back in Kimberly can hear Amanda impatiently cussing out the sensor system over the sound of the engine, even with her helmet on.

She quickly turns her intercom on.

"Hey, you alright? You're much more irritable than usual. Is it _that_ time again?"

[Yeah, sorry chief. That asshole of a boyfriend I had broke up with me, just because I spent more time here training than I did with him!]

Christie pats her on the shoulder reassuringly over the large breech of the main cannon.  
[Sorry to hear about the boyfriend, but if you want help with _that_ know that I'd be willing to help.]

Amanda flips her off and goes back to working on booting up the sensor system while Christie sits in her seat with a wry smile.

[Count me in on some of that!] Dawn adds in from her station, separated from the rest of the crew.

"Okay you lesbo's, get a room." Kimberly says with a roll of her eyes.

[Gladly Captain, care to join us?]

Christie gives a shit-eating grin as Kimberly glares at her.

"No thank you, I'm straight as an arrow."

[So is spaghetti until-]

"I swear Christie if you finish that sentence!"

Christie wisely turns off her microphone and sits with a grin while Kimberly checks in with the other vehicles.

* * *

It takes another five minutes before Amanda pumps her fist in celebration.

[Finally! Sensor system is fully functional chief, my optics are warming up now, but we should be ready to go.]

Kimberly claps her on the shoulder and double checks with the other vehicles before giving the order to move out, the platoon this time consisting entirely of Merkava's, with Kimberly's tank having a plow on the front for pushing anything from debris to snow.

"Alright Dawn, let's kick this overgrown vibrator into gear." Kimberly says with a chuckle before they start to roll forwards.

The convoy of tanks leaves the city walls shortly after, to find that the convoy of trucks and HMMWV's is stuck in the deep snow, and Kimberly quickly pulls ahead, using her plow to push the snow off the road.

Due to the slowed pace of the larger convoy they're joined by two copies of the Leopard 2 Marksman heading out for field testing, and the self-propelled anti-aircraft vehicles are positioned at both ends of the convoy, with the lead one behind Kimberly's Merkava.

[Razor, this is Bullseye, we've got half a dozen contacts to our front on radar, slow movers, probable hostiles.]

Kimberly swings her hatch open and sticks her head out, scanning the cloudy skies ahead of them, it only takes a few seconds to find the black dots against the gray clouds.

"That's confirmed Bullseye, contacts are hostile, you're cleared hot."

[Roger that, Bullseye firing.]

The turret of the marksman behind her turns slightly before elevating its guns and firing. The twin 35mm cannons give a throaty chatter that Kimberly can feel in her chest as they spit high-explosive ammunition into the sky, ejecting the spent casings off to the sides of the still moving vehicle. From the rear of the convoy the second marksman also opens fire, and the combined firepower of the two vehicles shreds the flock of nevermores.

 **[A/N: If you've never seen or heard a Marksman SPAAG fire, I suggest you check it out, because words don't do the sound justice.]**

* * *

Once the convoy reach the ridge above Mt. Glenn they spread out, overlooking the snow-covered wasteland, where some burned trees are still standing, a memoir to the fierce fighting to save the civilians that occurred in the infancy of TCC.

[Here we are, look familiar captain?]  
Dawn speaks for the first time since they encountered the Nevermores.

"Yeah. I feel proud for what we did that night, but _damn_ I hate this place."

[Why's that?]

"We were flying over here when the vice-commander got spiked with feathers from a Nevermore. She couldn't lower her gear all the way, and she crash-landed her plane on the runway, but one of the gear caught in the ground and spun her sideways, then the plane rolled down the runway. That was the crash she lost her leg in."

[Damn…..]

"Anyways, enough about my past. Load HE, target is a pack of Beowolves three clicks out."

Christie jumps up from her seat and folds it out of the way before grabbing a shell out of the storage and slamming it into the breech.

[Up!]

The turret slews right before settling, and the gun depresses.

[On target!]

"Fire."

Amanda pulls the trigger on her traverse handle, and the gun fires, kicking up snow around the vehicle as the HESH round screams in and smashes into the lead Beowolf more than three miles away, leaving a gigantic crater where the beast once stood.

"Good kill."

The other tanks on the ridge open fire, and through her binoculars Kimberly watches them impact various Grimm scattered throughout the forest below. The infantry lay in wait, having formed a perimeter around the tanks, knowing good and well that the noise of the guns will attract Grimm.  
The tanks continue to fire for half an hour until they run low on ammo, then some of the trucks from the convoy roll up and they begin the painfully slow procedure of restocking, hefting the large 120mm rounds up onto the turret and into one of the two hatches.

Restocking in itself takes an hour, and while they're working the infantry fights to keep Beowolves and Ursai at bay, implementing everything from small arms to directional anti-personnel mines and rocket launchers.

When the tanks are restocked all the crews mount back up and protect the infantry while they mount up in preparation to move back to base. To ease the pressure off them Kimberly calls in artillery, and the large guns back at base fire dust-infused shells that bracket the area in flashes of ice and electricity.

On the impact of the first shell all of the infantry jump up from their positions, gather their gear, and quickly mount up in any available vehicle. Once the last person is in a vehicle Kimberly gives the signal to move out, with the light HMMWV's and trucks in the center of the convoy, protected by the heavier tanks and SPAAG's on the ends.

* * *

They're nearly back to Vale before Kimberly realizes something is wrong inside the tank.

"Hey guys, is it me or is it kind of cold in here?"

[It's definitely cold in here, and I fucking hate it.] Christie voices her discomfort while she rubs her arms to keep warm.

[I agree, turn up the heat.] Amanda complains, which is unusual for her.

Kimberly pulls around a display on her hatch ring so it's hanging in front of her and runs a diagnostic of the air conditioning system. Two minutes later the diagnostic is finished, and Kimberly doesn't like what it tells her.

"Well girls, it would appear that our climate control system has taken a shit, my diagnostic just gave me a negative on functionality of it. So huddle up if you can."

Christie gives an audible groan with her microphone off, and Amanda hesitates before climbing under the gun breech.

[Alright Christie, if you try _anything_ I'm gonna kick your ass. You _know_ I'm in heat, so no funny business.]

[Yeah I know, just try not to rub up against me too much, the last thing I need is your damn pheromones all over me.]

The two huddle up while Kimberly stays in her seat, after all, somebody has to be on a gun, they're still in Grimm territory.

* * *

Twenty minutes later Kimberly hears a giggle and looks over to find Christie running her hands up Amanda's front while Amanda sits in her lap.

"HEY! NO SEX IN THE TANK!" Kimberly yells at them, throwing her metal coffee cup.

Amanda jumps off Christie with a yelp as the cup glances off her shoulder and hits Christie in the forehead.

[OW! Alright! Yeesh, it's really hard to resist when she's pumping out pheromones like there's no tomorrow.]

"If you need her that bad you can use the damn guest bedroom in my house, just don't destroy anything!"

Christie grumbles as Amanda snuggles up against her side and wraps her arms protectively around the bear Faunus.

"And Amanda! Stop trying to seduce a crew member in the middle of a mission!"

Amanda just rubs her face into Christie and falls asleep with a drunken smile on her face.

"Jesus Christ…this is the only time I regret having an all-Faunus crew…" Kimberly grumbles, since Amanda and Christie have taken off their helmets Dawn is the only one to hear her.

[Hey now boss, to be fair, you just haven't had a Faunus that's in heat in bed. And also I'm not a problem, because I'm separated from you guys.]

"You're right, you're not a problem, but these two are. And I have no intention of getting one of my subordinates in bed."

[Boss I'll give up a month's pay if you try it and don't like it.]

"...you just really want to get me in bed don't you?"

[ _Damn straight_ , so you willing to try it?]

"...fine."

[WOOHOO!]

Kimberly rolls her eyes at Dawn and looks over at Christie and Amanda, who both have fallen asleep.

"What am I going to do with you two….?"


	5. Chapter 5

**[A/N: This chapter is shorter than the rest, but I'm out of stockpiled material, so my updates will be slowing down. Meaning that you guys get to sit in suspense waiting for chapter six! Muahahaha!**

 **As always, hope you guys enjoy!**

* * *

With her paperwork done for the day Amelia heads up to her house and grabs her vest, rifle, and black cloak before pulling a very lazy Sierra out of bed.

" _Come on, get dressed! You can't lounge around in your underwear all damn day!"_

Sierra looks at the time and sighs through her nose before walking over to her dresser.

"' _Fatigues?'"_

" _I don't care, you can wear that new skirt if you want, just get dressed, we're going to welcome Ruby to Beacon and you need to be there so you can hear the introduction, you are attending after all."_

"' _Ugh, do I have to go?'"_

" _We'll swing through a cafe when we're done."_

"' _Alright.'"_

Sierra puts on a frilly black 'combat skirt' and grabs her parasol from next to her bed with a pouch of shotgun shells before tying her hair in its typical twin tails.

" _My little assassin."_ Amelia sighs and pulls her hood up as she opens the door.

"' _Nope, that's Neo. Subtlety isn't my thing.'"_ To prove her point Sierra racks the shotgun in her parasol, loading a fire Dust infused shell into the chamber.

Amelia rolls her eyes at the theatrical flare of her daughter, and they quickly board a waiting Bullhead that flies off towards Beacon once they're inside.

* * *

When the bullhead arrives they jump out while it's still ten feet off the ground, and they both land gracefully, with Sierra using her parasol to slowly float down.

" _I still don't understand how you did that."_ Amelia shakes her head and leads the way.

"' _Simple, I fused the fabric with gravity Dust.'"_

" _There is nothing simple about fusing fabric with Dust."_

"' _Seems pretty easy to me….'"_

" _Who taught you?"_

"' _Uncle Jacques.'"_

" _Oh….that explains it. He was fusing stuff with Dust ever since his second year in Signal. His uniform is fused with Dust."_

Sierra twirls once and holds her open parasol on her shoulder, smiling like a maniac.

Suddenly Yang and a bunch of her friends zip past, too fast for Amelia to get Yang's attention.

" _Damn it!"_ Amelia scuffs her foot on the ground in frustration,

They keep walking around trying to find Ruby, until they hear a Dust explosion in the distance.

" _When in doubt, follow the sound of explosions."_

They walk towards the courtyard, and when they get there Amelia takes note of the crater in the middle of it, along with a _very_ irritated white-haired girl yelling at Ruby.

" _Oh dear, it would appear that Ruby managed to anger a certain Schnee heiress."_ Amelia has Sierra head to the welcome ceremony and approaches with her hood up.

The Schnee is too busy chewing Ruby out to notice her approach, but Ruby sees her, and throws a glance her way that says 'HELP!'.

" _Hello Miss Schnee, are you finished berating my niece?"_

Weiss jumps and wheels around, her hand on her rapier, and her grip on the weapon tightens when she sees the hooded figure standing mere feet away.

Amelia pulls her hood back to show her face and opens her cloak, showing the patch on her right shoulder.

Weiss suddenly removes her hand from the rapier and clasps her hands together in front of her respectfully.

"I'm sorry Mrs. Ellis! I did not realize it was you!"

" _It is quite alright Weiss, I did sneak up on you after all. What did my niece do this time?"_

"She wasn't looking where she was going and fell onto my luggage, then she must have gotten some Dust in her nose and almost blew us up!"

" _Then it was not her fault correct? One of the clasps on your cases must not have been secured."_

Weiss suddenly looks incredibly indignant, and Klein scrambles to load her bags back onto the cart.

" _Come along Ruby, you don't want to be late for the introduction ceremony."_

Ruby skirts around Weiss and follows Amelia, who pulls her cloak back around her as they walk.

"So…Angel….why did you call me your niece?"

" _Simple, if I had called you anything else she likely would have continued yelling at you. I have business connections with her father, so she treats me with the utmost respect, as per her father's orders."_

"Oh….okay! Thank you!"

" _Don't mention it, I'm just doing my duty."_

They walk past a rather green looking blonde and into the front doors, with Amelia leading the way.

" _Man this brings back memories!"_ Amelia grins the entire time while they head to the arena, where the main student body is waiting.

" _Alright Ruby, there's Yang, I'll talk to you after things are over."_

"Okay! See you in a bit!"

Ruby walks over to Yang, and Amelia walks over to the side of the stage, choosing to stand in a dark corner while she listens to the same speech she had heard during her second year.

To no surprise Sierra makes her way over to her mom, choosing to stand next to her instead of with the other students.

" _You know, it would do you well to go meet new people, might finally find some friends who aren't contract killers."_

"' _But…social interaction. You know I'm terrible at breaking the ice.'"_

" _Yes I know, but you're going to be assigned to a team anyway, so why not find some good candidates?"_

"' _You know I hate it when you're right…'"_

" _I know."_

Finally Ozpin finishes his speech, and while he's walking off the stage Goodwitch gives instructions to the students.

" _Well hello Ozpin, it's been a while."_

"Indeed it has, what brings you here today?"

" _Just accompanying my daughter here, and little Miss Rose, I figured I might scout for any possible recruits while I was here."_

Ozpin smiles at her joke about recruiting and pushes his spectacles up his nose.

"I see…well, if you would visit my office when you have the time, I have an important matter that requires attention."

" _Of course, I have a few things to do once I'm done here, but I'll make time tomorrow to meet you."_

"Well, if you would excuse me, I do believe I have some administrative duties to attend to."

Ozpin walks off, followed by Goodwitch, who gives Amelia a respectful nod as she walks past.

"Hey Angel!" Yang calls as she walks over with Ruby close behind her.

" _Hello Yang! Are you done leaving Ruby in the dust?"_

"Yes…sorry…."

Amelia smiles and claps Yang on the shoulder. _"Don't apologize to me, apologize to her."_

Yang turns around and hugs Ruby. "Sorry sis."

"Apology accepted, _if_ you get me some cookies next time we go to town."

Yang groans and pulls Ruby's hood up. "Alright fine."

Sierra hides behind Amelia, but her mom is having none of it, and grabs her shoulders before steering her so she stands in front.

"Who's this Angel?"

" _This is my youngest daughter Sierra, she's also attending Beacon."_

Yang steps forward and offers her hand. "Nice to meet you Sierra! Your mom has helped us more times than I can count."

Sierra hesitates, but gathers her wits and confidently shakes Yang's hand.

"' _Nice to meet you Yang. Mom has told me all sorts of stories about you two. I hope we can partner up.'"_

Yang looks at Amelia suspiciously. "What stories did you tell her?"

" _Oh you know…just the fights you got into at Signal."_

Yang eyes her for a minute, but the adult's hard silver eyes give no secrets, and she looks away from the intense gaze.

Suddenly Amelia's scroll buzzes, and she rolls her eyes before taking it out.

" _Oh great….well, I'm sorry to cut this short. Next time you two are in Vale come up to the base and hand them this, they'll let you in."_

Amelia hands them both a card and quickly jogs away, expertly weaving through the crowd of people until she gets outside, where a bullhead is waiting.

* * *

" _What's the situation?"_ Amelia's 'voice' is serious as she walks into the headquarters.

The soldier up on the raised platform gives her a salute. "Your mother is waiting in her office ma'am."

She returns the salute and walks down the hall, entering the door that has a black rook painted on it.

" _You rang?"_

Janet looks up from the tablet she's holding. "Yes, Kimberly's convoy is four hours overdue, and we haven't heard anything from them."

Amelia's heart jumps into her throat as she strides forward and looks at the map on the tablet. _"Where."_

"Firing range Golf, when we last heard from them they were on the MSR and returning to base."

Amelia clenches her fists to steady their shaking. _"Tell Viper flight we're wheels up in twenty. Search and Rescue setup for half the planes, CAS for the other half."_

Janet leans over and grabs a different tablet, her fingers dancing across the screen. "They're getting ready now."

She looks up, but Amelia has already gone out the door.

Amelia quickly climbs up into her A-10 and gets settled in, beside her on the flight line are a quartet of A-10's, painted black with red accents to resemble Grimm and identify the flight they belong to; Viper flight, the best pilots in the company.

In one motion Amelia plugs her helmet in, turns on the radio, and begins her startup phase as four pilots dressed in black flight suits sprint down the flight line and climb into their aircraft.

{Viper one checking in.}

{Viper two checking in.}

{Viper three and four checking in.}

" _Angel checking in, I hope you all have your shit together today, we're saving the colonel's sister."_

{One of the founders? Which CO?}

" _Armor and artillery."_

{Roger that, only the best for the captain!}

Amelia grins the entire time she's finishing her start-up.

{Viper lead reporting all Viper elements ready to roll.}

Without a word Amelia takes off her parking brake and eases the plane out onto the taxiway, past the four others, which take position behind her.

While taxiing she grabs her scroll and sends an order to clear the runway, watching a flight of FA/18's stop and wait for them to pass.

" _Viper lead let's not wait around, kick it forward when you get on the runway."_

{Viper copies.}

With small inputs from her rudder pedals she guides the plane onto the snow-dusted runway and throttles up, blasting the snow away in a white cloud behind her.

The five planes form up at five thousand feet, just slightly below the clouds so they can search the ground for any sign of the missing convoy. It takes an hour to find them, four columns of inky black smoke rise above destroyed tanks in the road.

Amelia quickly binds her TGP to her eye and scans the vehicles for any survivors, but there's no movement.

The lead destroyed vehicle has snow piled up on the plow, its turret laying upside down in the ditch some ten yards away from the hull.

" _Castle we've found part of the convoy! Get Bulldog and her best over here NOW!"_

* * *

 **It was brought to my attention that I need to put in definitions for some military lingo that I use, so here is the stuff that I feel I need to explain.**

 **MSR - Main Supply Route. Typically a highway.**

 **CO - Commanding Officer. The head honcho, top brass, the person in charge of it all on base.**


End file.
